These guys are some of the toughest enemies in the game. But honestly, you shouldn't be fighting them in the first place, especially if you're trying to complete the main quest – they reside at major check points throughout the game. And if you want to wear the power armor they wear, then, well, you must be trained by them, and the only way to do that is if you complete Chapter 8 of the main quest. Be smart: Don't fight the brotherhood of steel. If you want to loot their bodies, look around for fallen brotherhood of steel soldiers – near the G.N.R. building -- to pick up their armor (after you're trained to use it), and their energy weapons.

If you don't want to heed our warnings, then come prepared when you battle one of the brotherhood. That means, have a lot of stimpaks, ammo, frag grenades, and even a companion or two before you fire that first shot.EnclavePrimary Weapons: Laser Pistol, Ripper, Frag Grenades, Plasma Grenades, Plasma Rifle, Plasma PistolPrimary Armor: Enclave Power ArmorXP Reward: 10 - 50

OK, you'll encounter the Enclave in the later parts of the main story (after Chapter 5). They wield energy weapons, and are generally a pain in the ass, because they have accurate aim, and have their own form of power armor. When you do fight them, use V.A.T.S. to shoot at their heads – this will hinder their ability to strike critical shots on you, especially if you land a critical hit. Continue to concentrate your fire on them until they're a rusted pile of scrap metal.

Once the Enclave is active, approximately half the Eyebots around the wasteland have a chance of summoning a vertibird with Enclave soldiers, if attacked. The chance of this happening is also modified by the player's Luck attribute.

Raiders are the most common enemy you'll find out on the road. The best part is that none of them are heavily armed or armored, so you can handle one or two of them at once. They're also a great way to build up your XP since they don't take too many shots to kill, especially if you concentrate your fire on their legs instead of their heads. They have a tendency to run away from a fire fight if their health starts to get too low, and they can't run very far if you shoot out their knee caps . (Note) Also in certain areas you may come upon a small group of raiders (2 - 5) that have taken enclave gear like plasma pistols/rifles and armour like telsa armour and helmets , but this does not happen very often .SlaversPrimary Weapons: Pistols, Rifles, Submachine Gun, Combat ShotgunPrimary Armor: Merc outfitXP Reward: 10 – 20

Slavers are another form of raiders, except they take a few more hits and usually yield better weapons. Read the raiders section above if you have any questions on how to combat these foes.MercenariesPrimary Weapons: Laser Pistol, Hunting Rifle, Assault Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Combat Knife, Frag GrenadesPrimary Armor: Talon Combat ArmorXP Reward: 10 - 30

The mercenaries are stronger versions of raiders and slavers, who take a lot of hits to take down, but yield more XP than the other rogue-like human enemies encountered throughout the Wasteland.

A positive karma player will encounter Talon Company Mercs quite frequently esp as you level. Most of the time you will find a contract for death among their bodies. They typically spawn in the DC metro area or the entrances to the internals of the city, but will also show up just about anywhere.

Note: just like a poasitve karma player will encounter the Talon mercs, a negative karma player will encounter regulators. much the same as the Talon Company Mercs. (Just-A-Random-Guy)Super MutantsPrimary Weapons: Hunting Rifle, Assault Rifle, Sledgehammer, Minigun, Missle Launcher, GrenadesPrimary Armor: trash they find around the wasteXP Reward: 10 - 50

Next to all the other enemies listed above, you will encounter a ton of super mutants in the Capital Wasteland. They take a lot of hits to kill, and are very good warriors, especially in the group. So when you attack them, be methodical about it. Shoot their arms so they drop their weapons. Shoot their legs so they can't chase after you. Shoot their head so their aim is bad. And, most of all, shoot them while staying on the move. Remember: A stationary target is a dead one.

Note: As you level up, you'll meet different super mutants. Super mutants are the most common, and then there are the Brutes and masters. There is one more but im not sure if you need a certain add-on to see it. i only saw it after i got the "Broken Steel" add-on. But its the Super Mutant Overlord. Quite hard to kill but i've only seen one so far and it had a gatling laser. Took me forever to kill and had to waste my Alien Blaster Ammo on it. (Just-A-Random-Guy) Add-on: I found another Overlord and what was weird is that it did not have any gun that i had ever seen before. It was a laser rifle, but it fired 3 lasers at once. So the overlords might be carrying some rare weapons. Not sure yet, only seen 2. (Note 2) The weapon they carry that you described is the Tri-beam laser rifle.

First, there are the ants. Not all that hard to defeat, especially if you concentrate your fire on their antennae. Do this, and they can't determine friend from foe, and they'll attack each other. Whatever you do, don't shoot their legs – the legs take only half-damage. Another good tactic to use on the (fire)ants is to jump towards them (you'll jump over their flame), then circle around them while holding a melee weapon. You might take some damage but this saves ALOT in ammo, just keep clubbing and circling them while making sure they have their back turned towards you (don't try this technique with alot of ants grouped together).

Bloatflys are easy kills, as only one bullet will kill them, or a hit from a melee weapon will finish them off. This translates into easy XP when you're starting out. The same can be said for radroaches; they only take one or two hits to kill with only a pistol or melee weapon, and are a great enemy to kill to earn some cheap XP, especially if you use the XP Glitch (link to video). Dogs, will yield more XP per kill, but are very quick. Aim for their legs to slow them down to aid you in this effort.

Radscorpions, these are a bitch to kill using ranged weapons and drain your ammo easily. In addition to this, their attack from their stinger is poisonous. If that hits you, it will affect your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes, leaving some lingering effects on your character's ability to attack. You can cure the poison with a stimpak or rest, but if you're fighting a radscorpion, there is no time to rest.

Use the circling technique with a melee weapon as descibed with the ants, and you can pick them off 1 by 1. Don't try this technique when the enemies are grouped.

If you have a companion (excluding dog meat) try to step back and let them kill it because they have infinate ammo.

Centaurs: These creatures are a discrce to their mum, seriosly, if you see one you will laugh at the state of it. They are quite rare but don't deserve to be, they are only found with super mutant brutes and act as watch dogs. They are very slow as they have to waddle due to the fact they have six hands for feet. Their only attack is to whip at you with their 'tongue' and this hardly does any damage anyway. The best way to kill them is using a gun and aim for the head, but you could kill them with a melee weapon and lose about 5 health anyway. (Note) They have another attack were they spit some sort of acid at you . It won't do much damage , but suprisingly raises your raidiation up buy 13 rads a second but will decrease to about 3 - 4 rads a second later . This attack is easy to doge though .

Feral GhoulsXP Reward: 5 – 10

You'll encounter a lot of feral ghouls throughout the subway tunnel system. They're easy to defeat if you shoot out their legs with a pistol or rifle, or if they get up close, shoot them once in the head with a shotgun. Don't get surrounded by them, because they have a quick attack that deals between 5 – 16 damage.

Note: Much like with the super mutants note i added, there are different kinds. regualr Feral Ghouls being the most common. After that there are Feral Ghoul Roamers. Quite easy to kill but have a little extra health then regular ghouls. Next there are the Glowing Ones. These things are a bitch because they give off a blast of radiation that adds a certain amount but i cant remember how much. This wouldn't be so bad but that also heals other Ghouls around it. Lasty, there is the Feral Ghoul Reaver. Much like the super mutant overlord, i only saw it after I got that one add-on. Had a good bit of health and attacks from a distance and gets up close also. Has a good bit of health so the best thing to do is cripple the legs then run backwards while fireing. try not to have 2 face one of these and some extra ghouls. (Just-A-Random-Guy.)

Robots and TurretsXP Reward: 5 – 50

You'll encounter turrets more often throughout the wasteland than robots (in our experience). Turrets are stationary, so you don't need to be running up on them, or running away from them. Find a good cover spot where you can see the turret and fire on it. You can also duck in and out of cover as you fire on the turret until it's destroyed.

Robots on the other hand, take a lot of ammo to kill, and are usually very well armed throughout the wasteland. You want to use pulse grenades or mines to help turn these battles into your favor. Or do like we did: take the long way around and avoid the confrontation altogether. Sometimes the best fight is the one you can walk away from.

There are about 5 different types of robots you'll encounter. The Enclave eyebot can be found spewing propoganda across the Wastes, and are usually armed with the equivalent of a pistol. Protectrons can be found roaming free, but are typically found near some facility, an are armed with the equivalent of a laser pistol. Mr. Gutsy type bots are just like your butler at either of your homes, and typically have a plasma weapon and/ or a flamer. Robobrains will be found the same places as protectrons and usually have some sort of laser weapon and a sonic attack (like the mirelurk kings). Securibot are the big ones, they are usually armed with a minigun and missile launcher, but are not as common as the protectrns and robobrains. In the case of these three, their weakness is the head, especially on the weaker of the two, the protectron and the robobrain.

Note : Do not attack the head on the sentry bot , it's more defended than the other parts of the body.

DeathclawsXP Reward: 25-50

These guys are big and extremely fast (certainly faster than YOU) and have a deadly melee lunge attack. Fortunately it's their ONLY attack. Do not let them corner you! The best way to handle deathclaws is one at a time from a distance. Try to cripple their legs to slow them down. If you find yourself straddled with multiple deathclaws try a missle to their feet to cripple the group or run through or around land formations or blockages that the AI might have trouble navigating. The dartgun does very well against these critters, it's even been known to crit a deathclaw in a single shot to the leg. From afar the sniper rifle is your only accurate choice unless you're an ace with the missle launcher or fat man and have the ammo to spare.

Note: If you happen to hae a bottlecap mine, these work great to cripple the legs. But if not, the dart gun is the next best choice. (Just-A-Random-Guy

Yao GuiXP reward: ?

Yoa Gui's are Like big bears with big claws. When they attack the try to dive on you so cripple thier legs and they can only swipe at you. They are quite easy to kill if you just shoot at their head but try to kill them before they get clso because they can deal a fair ammount of damage.

MirelurksXP Reward: ?

Mirelurks (and Mirelurk Hunters and Kings, and Nuka-Lurks) are very intimidating but fall easily with the right tactics. They are about as fast as your avatar and have two attacks (with the exception of the Mirelurk King). They have a swipe attack and ramming attack. Their weakest areas are their faces which compared to their size are pretty small areas and are hidden when they ram at you. Use VATS to target these areas while running backward to avoid them. Mirelurk Kings have an additional attack. They will launch a slow moving blue energy ball toward you from a distance. These are very easy to dodge. All Mirelurk species fall very easily by the Flamer.